This is at this time’s version of The Download, our weekday publication that gives a each day dose of what’s happening on the planet of know-how.
Why your iPhone 17 would possibly include a recycled battery
Lithium-ion batteries energy most of our private electronics at this time. Mining the metals that make up these batteries can imply loads of air pollution, in addition to dangerous situations for employees.
The excellent news is, a rising variety of teams are working to ensure batteries get recycled—and a few of these efforts have gotten mainstream, together with Apple’s current announcement its batteries would use 100% recycled cobalt starting in 2025.
It says quite a bit about the place the battery recycling business is and the place it’s going. Read the total story.
—Casey Crownhart
Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly local weather and power publication. Sign up to obtain it in your inbox each Wednesday.
Snap is launching augmented-reality mirrors in shops
What’s occurring: Snap is planning to launch augmented-reality mirrors that enable consumers in shops to immediately see how garments look on them with out bodily making an attempt them on. The mirrors are going to seem in some US Nike shops later this 12 months, and within the Men’s Wearhouse in Paramus, New Jersey.
Why? The mirrors are a part of Snap’s new effort to start out providing AR merchandise within the bodily world. AR has powered Snapchat filters and Lenses (the corporate’s time period for its in-app AR experiences) for years, however these extra makes use of of the know-how create a possible income stream for Snap exterior the social media platform’s app. Read the total story.
—Tanya Basu
Learning to code isn’t sufficient
A decade in the past, tech powerhouses like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon helped increase the nonprofit Code.org, a learn-to-code program. It sparked a wave of nonprofits and for-profits alike devoted to coding and studying pc science, and plenty of US states which have made coding a highschool commencement requirement.
But simply studying to code is neither a pathway to a steady monetary future for folks from economically precarious backgrounds, nor a panacea for the inadequacies of the tutorial system. Read the total story.
—Joy Lisi Rankin
This story is from our forthcoming Education print challenge, attributable to launch subsequent Wednesday. If you’re not already a subscriber, you possibly can enroll from simply $69 a 12 months—a particular low value to mark Earth Week.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to seek out you at this time’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about know-how.
1 It’s higher to be secure than sorry with AI
And but, the most important labs aren’t investing in correct safeguarding. (Economist $)
+ Google’s utilizing generative AI for its new advert campaigns. (FT $)
+ Discussions round AI threat are lengthy overdue. (New Scientist $)
+ Do AI programs want to come back with security warnings? (MIT Technology Review)
2 People with lengthy covid are nonetheless struggling
And they’re feeling more and more remoted as a result of lack of restrictions. (The Atlantic $)
+ But new medical trials are wanting promising. (Wired $)
+ We’ve solely simply begun to look at the racial disparities of lengthy covid. (MIT Technology Review)
3 Matt Walsh’s Twitter hacker did it to fire up drama
They say they compromised Walsh’s cellphone with the assistance of an “insider.” (Wired $)
+ Twitter’s eliminating legacy blue checks—for actual this time. (WP $)
4 All US Facebook customers are owed cash
But it’s not quite a bit, and isn’t coming anytime quickly. (WSJ $)
5 North Korea says it’s constructed its first spy satellite tv for pc
The satellite tv for pc might play a key function within the nation’s weapons applications. (FT $)
+ Soon, satellites will have the ability to watch you all over the place on a regular basis. (MIT Technology Review)
6 The US Supreme Court has delayed its abortion capsule resolution
It’ll decide in regards to the accessibility of mifepristone on Friday. (BBC)
+ Texas is making an attempt out new ways to limit entry to abortion drugs on-line. (MIT Technology Review)
7 TikTok’s algorithm retains pushing suicide content material to minors
Depression, hopelessness and dying are widespread themes. (Bloomberg $)
8 Erotic hypnosis is ruining ladies’s lives
Predatory males are utilizing recordings to groom weak folks on-line. (BuzzFeed)
9 WeChat’s ultrashort cleaning soap operas are pushing China’s decency legal guidelines
The dramas are extra provocative than conventional TV fare. (Rest of World)
10 How video video games assist folks work by means of their grief
It offers them the prospect to course of their emotions in digital realms. (The Guardian)
Quote of the day
“Bard is worse than useless: please do not launch.”
—An inner Google be aware to employees spells out the issues with the corporate’s AI chatbot, which it launched final month, Bloomberg reviews.
The huge story
How robotic honeybees and hives might assist the species battle again
October 2022
Something was improper, however Thomas Schmickl couldn’t put his finger on it. It was 2007, and the Austrian biologist was spending a part of the 12 months at East Tennessee State University. During his each day walks, he realized that bugs appeared conspicuously absent.
Schmickl, who now leads the Artificial Life Lab on the University of Graz in Austria, wasn’t improper. Insect populations are certainly declining or altering world wide.
Robotic bees, he believes, might assist each the actual factor and their surrounding nature, an idea he calls ecosystem hacking. Read the total story.
—Elizabeth Preston
We can nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre occasions. (Got any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ There’s nothing fairly like a teenage bed room.
+ If you’ve been trying to combine up your podcast library, this checklist provides some useful pointers.
+ Shh, don’t inform anybody about America’s hottest, and most secret, restaurants.
+ Stealing near $200,000 in dimes looks as if extra hassle than it’s price.
+ Kenny Loggins continues to be going—writing Winnie the Pooh songs.